Raindrops, One by One
by I Spaz With Pizzazz
Summary: Ino isn't telling Sakura how she feels about her for fear she'll run away from their friendship, too. Shoujo-ai InoSaku, AU. COMPLETE
1. What I Want

**A/N: **Aha! My first try at yuri! :3 I've wanted to write this for a while, and I hope you like it… Please tell me if you do, so I know if I should continue or not? I wrote this late at night when (once again! xD) I should have been sleeping. Haha. Yeah, hopefully you'll think it's okay? Please review! :

Naruto is Kishimoto's. Yupperdoodles, that's not me.

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Raindrops, One By One, Into Place

-First-

xX Ino POV Xx

My big mouth and cocky attitude never really helped to gain me many friends at first. I sort of scared people into hanging out with me. Eventually, I'd like to think that I stopped and mellowed out some, because I have a few more people who seem to actually like _me._

But the first person I even tried to make my friend who didn't try to run away was Sakura. Honestly, it took her ages to go from a wimpy, whiny little bitch to where she is now. In the past two years or so she's really become someone she might be able to be proud of. Before, she was just this person who floated along, following the crowd, but now she's gotten strong.

I know that I've done stupid things that easily could've ruined us, but she held through and stayed with me.

I'm a bitch too, I can't help it. But that girl is the one that I hate to yell at, even though I have to sometimes. She's…special to me. if I ever could hold someone through the worst night of their life and tell them it would be okay (or have them hold me), I'd want it to be her.

That girl could be someone I really could love without hesitation.

She's beautiful no matter what she thinks about herself. When she smiles…she always makes me happy. Whenever she cries, it makes me want to join her in those miserable tears. Any time a boy disappoints her, I want to smack him and toss him into a reeking dumpster full of rotted fish.

Mostly though, I want to grab her by the shoulders and shake her, screaming, "What about me? Why do you look at that boy when I could be there for you?"

Yes, I want to be someone she giggles about, rants about, and thinks about all day. And I would tell her, I really would, except I don't want to lose the friendship with her that I treasure.

If it's all that I can have, I will take it. Oh, I want to be the one she dreams of like in the plot of a sappy movie. But I'm terrified that if I ever admitted that to her, Sakura would run away because she simply wouldn't know what to say back to me.

Who would, when all of a sudden their best friend told them that they loved her? To make it worse, what would you do if they were a girl too?

Sakura is the person that I could see myself loving.

Sure, she can be a huge idiot, but she's my beautiful guilty pleasure. Hiding this from her is never easy, no, but I feel like I have to.

Were I to lose Sakura as my friend, I would be devastated. I need that girl at least _somewhere _in my life, or I would spiral into darkness…

I never want to see Sakura hurt, not ever by anyone. Especially not by me.

If I was ever the one to hurt her, I could not live with myself, which is why I've chosen to keep this my secret.

Sakura, I love you.

Every time it rains, I find myself desperate to grab you and dance though the cool drops with you. Under those wonderful raindrops, I would love more than anything to kiss you. Later, when we got colds because we stayed out in the weather for too long, I want to laugh about it with you.

But Sakura, I don't think I'll ever be able to do that with you, no matter how much I want to.

Please don't run away because you're afraid of me. Please, don't go. So you never have the chance, I won't tell you how much you mean to me…I'll keep it right here, okay? A secret locked behind my lips until _you _decide to come find it. Again, I wish you would, but I'm afraid you won't.

After all, you only know me as your friend.

Sakura, I love you.

And I'm sorry.


	2. Warmth

**A/N: **Oh, Jashin. I'm so sorry. xD That took ages to write. My head was blocked for muse…blah. But here it is! :3 I hope you all like it…please review if you do? I'll give you a cookie…or a lovely stick of pocky. Which I'm eating right now. Yummy. :D

I don't own Naruto, Guitar Hero, or Samara Morgan. n.n

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Raindrops, One by One

-Second-

The first time we had a sleepover we were six years old, and I was so terrified of sleeping in a place other than my own house that I stayed awake the whole night, shivering in the dark. Too proud to call my mother to take me home…even then I had way too big of an ego. Obviously it doesn't bother me now, so many years later, and we have a tradition of swapping houses every other weekend.

Sakura's was up, and we were hiding out in the basement, free to laugh and be as loud as we wanted without bothering anyone. To take advantage of the sound block, I'd brought my Guitar Hero set over for later.

There was nothing like spending time with her that could take my mind off how annoying my life was. Not like there was any real, health-endangering thing, but it was fucking annoying. I couldn't say a word about my sexuality to my mother because she was too gung-ho on me finding some _prince _charming, and I couldn't possibly talk about it to my best friend, because…well, sort of obvious. Geometry never ceased to fail me, and I had zits exploding in so many places that it was getting hard to hide them all under concealer.

So. Annoying was the word.

But, being smiley and laughing with Sakura made me feel calmer. All of those little things were able to evaporate when I had her nearby. Okay, mostly. Not, of course, the whole predicament about me loving her, but I was genuinely happy to simply be her best friend. No, it didn't stop me from wanting to be more, but it put the burning pressure in my head somewhat to rest. If I could make her smile, I could smile too.

She was giggling insanely then, clutching a DVD case. "Ino-chan! It's not that scary! Why are you hiding behind the couch?!"

Yeah, this one time I wasn't so happy she was laughing at me. if I had one weakness, it was scary movies. In particular, The Ring. Gory things like Saw I had no problem with, because gore didn't bother me. However, crazy psychological things freaked me out. "Saku, please? Put it away!" I whined, "Samara scares the shit out of me. And you know, it really doesn't help that my house is ancient and it has an old well in the cellar."

"Ha! I forgot about that since we're always up in your room for your weekends…"

"Exactly, now get rid of that movie!"

"No, this is just too awesome."

"Sakuraaa! Please?"

"Ha ha. I _love _torturing you…"

"Eh? Damn it, you mean person!"

She sighed, rolling her eyes. "For someone who's so tough on the outside, you are really soft."

"But it's fucking creepy…" I peered out from behind my barricade. "Are you going to put it away?"

"Yeah, yeah. Fine, I will…" Sakura moved to shove the Motion Picture From Hell back into its spot by her other films, but I stopped her.

"No! Somewhere where it can't escape. Like a drawer with a lock."

"Ino. No."

"Oh…fine." Pouting some, I flopped onto the couch, grabbing up a pillow and hugging it. "Whatever. So can we just do something harmless that doesn't involve psychotic, homicidal little girls?"

"Like Guitar Hero?"

"Precisely!"

"But you always beat me…it's really not fair, Ino-chan."

"If it's any consolation, you're farther than me in Kingdom Hearts." That didn't break her all-knowing stare. Eh. Yeah, I liked to win. And yeah, I brought it with me so I could win. (An added bonus: She was very, very cute when she was frustrated because she lost.) "Awh. Would you play it if I just watched?"

"Maybe. Wait, isn't that boring for you?"

"No, I'll be your cheerleader!" I smiled, thrusting the game at her. Anything to be free of that damn movie of hers. I never could understand why she preferred that sort of thing over chick flicks. Honestly…it made no sense, judging by the rest of her personality.

With a sigh, Sakura took it from me, loading it into her PlayStation. When the familiar opening began on the screen, I felt much better. The threat of Samara Morgan was past.

"Wow. You do suck. You only play on medium?" I giggled, and Sakura sent another glare my way.

"So what exactly happened to being my cheerleader…? That doesn't sound very encouraging to me…"

"Ha ha. Oh, sorry. I'll shut up now…"

"Thank you." She muttered, a smile still skating on her face. It was a game we had, this constantly poking fun and picking on each other.

A best friend thing.

And I was so happy to have something like that. It meant a lot to me…truly.

She groaned loudly as she missed yet another note. The success meter was hovering near red, and she'd barely just started the song. "Ew. Urgh. Dammit. Hey, Ino-pig! I don't think I suck as much at this as you do at cheering…because at least I'm not missing _everything. _You haven't said _anything _helpful."

Ooh. I'd been zoning out, hadn't I? Shaking it off, I moved over to where she sat on the floor, struggling to stay alive in the game. "Here, let me help you now."

I put my hands over hers, leaning over her shoulder so I could see the television screen, too. My fingers guided hers over the frets, and slowly the meter climbed back up into the clear.

As the song went on, I noticed how nice it felt to be so close to Sakura. Side by side, her warmth seeping into me and feeling her breathing.

I didn't want it to be over.

"Ino?"

I never wanted to leave that moment, so close to her. _Sakura-chan…_

"Ino!"

"Hm?" I murmured, eyes flashing open to see we'd beat it together. My moment of bliss would have to be over…for now. Only for now, hopefully. But maybe I was just a wishful thinker… "Look, we won."

"Uh-huh! For once in my life. Even though it was really all you." Sakura paused for a second, giving me a reproachful look. "But you were spacing out there the whole time. What were you thinking about, Ino-chan?"

I smiled slightly in spite of myself. "Ah, nothing really. So! Want to get fat on potato chips now?"

She laughed, stretching her arms as she stood. "Oh yeah! Bring on the junk food!"

Another day of keeping secrets.


	3. Dance, Dancing, Danced

**A/N: **Haha. I am getting good at using biology to write in. x3 Damn, the movie he's showing… wowzees. That's boring… So! Here's the next part for all of you! :D It's longer than before. Hopefully you'll like eet. –smiles-

I don't own Naruto, bowling alleys, or…SasuNaru? oO''

**--**

Raindrops, One by One

Three

I was always relieved when the final bell rang at school. When it came, it meant we'd all survived one more time. Some days for me were harder than others, especially when someone (or Sakura in particular) would go on about love or repeatedly ask why I didn't want a boyfriend. I hated those days more than anything, because all they did was wear on me even more about her. As much as I was nearly desperate to be near her, sometimes I was just as desperate to be away from her. That probably sounds strange, but spending all of that time with her without saying a word about how I really felt gave me such a yearning ache inside my chest…and that was almost unbearable to have.

God, that really could hurt. Dealing with physical pain was fine for me, but that dull throbbing in my chest hurt like hell.

The last bell for the day had sounded though, and I was on my way back home. This time was my few minutes of freedom, where I didn't have to worry about anything. And what an extra treat that it was that day, because it was steadily raining, a light fall shower.

I smiled and took my time down the sidewalk, loving the sweet kiss of the drops on my arms. I held them out and grinned like a fool while everyone else scurried along quickly to get out of the rain.

Soon enough I was the only one on the sidewalk, but I didn't feel alone. "Sakura-chan, would you like to dance? I murmured to no one in particular.

In the rain, I spun in a circle, imagining she was with me. "Someday, someday." I whispered, catching a few of the last drops in my hands and blinking one long time.

Someday I could more than imagine it. Someday we really could dance in the rain together.

Honestly, I lived for the idea of my Someday.

--

Isn't it very rude when your alarm clock screams at you in the morning to get up? Seriously. It sucks.

Slamming my hand down onto it to get it to shut up, I slunk out of bed, glaring like a wet cat. I swear, it's like I have to parts to me…this angry, sarcastic, annoying bitch, and this heavy-hearted pathetic romantic. It wasn't often that the two switched so often, from day-to-day. Usually it took a few weeks…maybe I knew somewhere then that something was brewing for me. I was already off-balance.

That's why I used the off-balance-ness as an excuse for burrowing back under the covers for another ten minutes.

Okay, so it was _supposed _to be only ten minutes or so, but somehow I managed to knock off about twenty. "Shit!" I scrambled up, tugging on clothes.

I had a really nasty habit of always sabotaging myself, be it in the mornings or in love. Oh, love. Who the hell cared, anyway? I was doomed. If I couldn't handle waking up on time, there was no way I could handle that…

Frowning at my hair, I scoffed, "To hell with it!" Pulling it up into a long ponytail yet again, I thundered downstairs and outside to meet the miserable day.

However, I didn't feel like moping through that day. Time to show whoever it was that was in charge that Yamanaka Ino was one tough bitch after all.

Ha.

Yeah. Only on the outside, at that point. I was still so confused about…generally most everything. From Sakura, to Geometry as I said before, to not knowing what shoes I was going to wear for homecoming. (Which I really didn't want to go to, because Sakura was going to be way too fucking _pretty _to ignore.)

Not to say she wasn't ridiculously beautiful as it was at school either. That girl never fails, damn her! But the thought of her being so shining and sparkly all done up in a dress and make up was…just wow. Intimidating, intimidating…

When I finally floated in to class, barely on time, and with a stomach already growling from lack of breakfast, she was radiant as ever. A red shirt contrasted with her soft pink hair and the fishnet gloves Temari had gotten her for her birthday were on her hands. "Ino-pig! There you are. Oh, you look tired today…spend too much time checking for Samara under your bed last night, did you…?"

I flopped down in the seat next to her. "Nya. You're a jerk, Little Miss Forehead." Tearing off a little chunk of my eraser, I threw it at her. "Forehead!"

"Ow," she pouted, plucking the chunk off the desk where it had fallen after hitting her and chucking it back. "For that, I'll have to kick your ass in bowling today!"

"Bowling?" I blinked. "Wait, what? …Ah, crap! Is that today?"

Our gym class was heading off on a not-so-merry excursion to the bowling alley, and I had oh-so-conveniently forgotten to bring money for it. Well. There went eating lunch. I'd have to sacrifice the meager wad in my pocket for something I didn't even want, god damn it.

My mood wasn't improving much, to say the least.

Sakura was sympathetic. She must have seen the look of pain on my face. "Sorry. Awh. I'll burn you a CD tonight, 'kay? Will that make you feel better?"

"Hm." I perked up. "Maybe…"

--

The bowling alley perpetually smelled like cigarette smoke even though smoking in public places had been banned where we lived. From the moment you opened the door, it smacked you in the nose. I was a bad enough bowler as it was without that _and _Sakura being around to be distracting my attention.

Seriously, the odds were just against me. And if one was to judge by the pitifully large number of gutter balls I was tallying, it would be too obvious.

"Dammit."

"Dammit…!"

"Da—RAWR! You know what?! I give up!" I groaned, pulling on the fringe of hair I kept down around my face.

Trying to hold back her laughter at my moodiness, Sakura picked up my ball. "Would you like me to toll for your turn, Ino-pig?"

One look back at how her score was doing (much better than mine was, thank you very much) and jumped at the chance. "Yes! Yes please!"

She patted my head sympathetically and approached the long floor in my place. Bringing back her arm, she let the ball go, right between the two arrows I couldn't seem to hit.

Sakura was so perfect, so graceful, and maybe that was why I couldn't look away. Now, wait. She wasn't perfect at all, but eventually she had found a way to become perfect even when she totally was not. Even though not everything in her life had been great, she could still be wonderful and have perseverance.

And she was my best friend. Best out of everyone.

_I am such an idiot, _I sighed, _I'm lucky enough as it is to be able to call her that. But I'm not lucky enough…not good enough to call her…no, quit it! Today you said you'd quit being a stupid, whiny swooning idiot! remember? Right!? All right! Onward! Charge! Fight…! Oh, hell. I think I've been spending too much time around Bushy Brows Lee… I'm starting to sound like him… God!_

But anyway, every damn pin got knocked over.

Seriously, how cruel is that?! Yet again she was better than me.

I was happy though, because it would at least look like I wasn't _quite _as shitty of a bowler once they looked at my score. "Yaye!" Leaping over to her, I launched a hug.

Could you blame me for hugging a little bit too long…? Honestly, would you? Sakura had just saved my ass, and yes, okay, she was beautiful. Yes, okay. I was a pathetic admirer of her just the same as Naruto had been of her back in grade school. Funny how he'd turned out, actually. At that moment, he was off in the corner, trying to be discreet about the fact that he and Sasuke were making out. Yep, the same Sasuke that Sakura and I had both giggled after in grade school… It's always funny to realize how we all turned out. (Some of us just happened to be doing better at getting the other person than others.)

"Ino? Ino, I know you're happy, but really…you can…you can stop now…" Sakura mumbled uncertainly, wiggling away. "Um…um, I'll go roll for myself now, okay? I should be up now, so…um. Your ball should come back out of the ball return soon, so you can go wait for it…?"

I blinked, watching her walk back to the lane. "Oh, shit." I whispered, absently letting my gazer then wander over to watch Sasuke and Naruto almost longingly. "Oh, shit…"

Had I really messed it up this time…? This was the second time, the second time I might have let go too much.

Was she noticing something off about the way I was acting around her, finally?

"Shit."

She couldn't know. She couldn't even _wonder. _I couldn't let that happen.


	4. Out

**A/N: **Hi! :D I'm still alive, I promise. X3 My muse died, but I resurrected it. That tends to happen a lot… XD But, I have pocky to eat right now so I'm happy and whatnot. Mahaha. –devours-

Voila un disclaimer. Je ne sais pas 'disclaimer' en francaise…

Enjoy, my lovelies, and thank you so much to everybody who reviewed!

--

Raindrops, One By One

Four

It was torture, let me tell you, to have to listen to people talking about when I was going to get married. My mother, complete with dreamy stars in her eyes, would go on and on about some stupid gala wedding. Flowers and cakes and a groom.

A groom? Jesus, I had to try so damn hard to keep myself from gagging at the thought. "Mom, please! You can seriously quit it now."

"Oh, Ino, why not? It's never too early to start planning. Come on, are you _sure _you don't have a secret boyfriend or something you're hiding from me?" She tittered, oblivious to my misery. "Ah, I know. Are you afraid I might steal him from you?"

"Shit, mom!" I huffed, burying my face in my hands. She never shut up. Ever. A lot of times I found myself wistfully wishing I had a cyanide pill with me so I could just die and never have to hear that crap again. "Damn, quit it! God."

"Ino, watch your mouth." She scolded, frowning. Out of giggly teenager mode and switched back into mother mode…both of which I wasn't so fond of. "Honestly, I don't know what your problem is…" She sighed, more to herself than to me.

"My problem," I raised my voice, "is that I don't want to hear all that sappy shit."

"Ino! Watch your mouth, I said."

"Ugh! Fine, sorry." I groaned. "I don't want to hear all that sappy _crap." Shit. Shit. Shit. I'm going to curse if I want to, got it?! So what if it's un-ladylike? Do I fucking care? No. Oh, and by the way, I'm gay. You probably wouldn't find that very ladylike either…_

The first few times she's started in about weddings and boyfriends, I'd felt a little bit guilty about it; sort of like I was taking something away from her…like I was robbing her. What with her swooning and glowing and having such yearning in her voice, that's what it seemed like. Finally I decided I couldn't stay guilty like that because wasting my life on a thing that I would be able to stand at all just to make her happy wasn't worth it at all. It wasn't my fault for being born to love Sakura.

Sakura, god… That girl was everything to me. Even if by some miracle I could touch her, I was almost afraid to because she was such an angle it was like I might accidentally break her. Thinking of her lying limp with a broken heart petrified me. I could never let that happen. If ever we would have to break up for some reason, what would happen to our friendship? There was another thing that made me go cold thinking about. Too much of a risk went along with _everything, _and my only option was to keep dreaming about her.

She was the only reason I kept going to school every goddamned day. The only reason I ever bothered to leave my room.

I loved her, so, so much.

I loved her. I wished so badly I didn't… I did anyway. Oh, I did. But there was no magical pill to numb the searing hot cattle prods in my heart. Nothing to make the swelling of my symptoms go down.

"What do you mean, sappy crap? Teenage girls are supposed to _love _all of that…when I was your age; boys were all I talked about!"

_Mother. Shut up. _I was starting to boil over by then. "Mom, look! I don't _give a fu—_I don't _care _about boys, mother!"

Another huge sigh rocked her body, and her eyes were almost getting to be angry. I was just to much of a disappointment, I guess. She laughed bitterly, hopelessly. Her tone was almost joking. "What, you're not gay or something are you?"

A cold silence overtook the room, and I blinked with surprise. "How…how did you know?" I stammered without thinking first.

"How did I…?" It was like she didn't hear me, but then a hammer of shock split her face. "Oh god, wait. Oh god… Oh god, you mean you _are?" _Her hand fluttered up to her heart, and she swallowed, her eyes wide open. "What…what am I going to do _now…?"_

My throat went dry like someone was choking me from behind. "Fuck, did I just come out?" It rang out very loud in my ears, but it wasn't really much more than a whisper; the tone of a whisper the same as the many I'd put in Sakura's ever-eager ears over the years. Somehow every little thing I did always reverberated back to her… I was so trapped.

"Now what am I supposed to do?" My mother said to the wall, shock still making its long way through her. I sat motionless, dealing with my own shock at how _stupid _I was. What the _hell? I just killed myself. God, I know I did, didn't I? Fuck, why did I say that, why did I _say _that, I…fuck!_

Feeling a major tremor working up in my bones, I stood up, wobbly on my legs. _Get out, Ino. Get out and let her calm down…maybe she won't shoot you if you go away for an hour or two, right? _Wordlessly, I fled, time going away too slowly for my liking. I shoved my shaking hands into my pockets against the cold early winter chill, scuttling down the sidewalk. Rows of perfect houses watched, and I wondered just how perfect the lives of the people who lived in them really were. I know I wasn't perfect, not at all. Even though I lived in one of those flawless looking houses, I was a total wreck behind my strong face. Let's see…a lesbian with an irrational fear of undead little girls in wells, a shitty geometry student, a lazy bitch who never made any effort to change anything, and an idiot who couldn't stop being an idiot even if they did work up the motivation to try.

Well, at least I had a best friend.

Oops, hang on a moment…

Never mind that last part, because technically she was the _base _of most my issues.

And, despite several attempts to redirect my feet, I was headed toward her house on auto pilot.

I was such a fucking glutton for punishment, I swear…

--

Standing on her porch, the wind played with my ponytail. I lingered there for a while, weighing my options. Ringing the bell wasn't what I wanted to do; because I was scared seeing her now might make me feel worse. Of course, I didn't need to ring the bell because she'd seen me through a window and was soon bounding to let me in, to my dismay.

"Ino-chan!" She grinned, pulling me in. "What are you doing here?"

"Umm…" I'd been wring, because she lifted up a little of my heaviness. Even so, she still did make me sad since she was so impossible. It was like I was stuck in a room somewhere but with all of the doors locked tightly. There was no moving either way more than the other. "I was just bored…you know how it is. Really boring."

Hardly boring. Things were _too _exciting for me right now.

"Ew, yeah. I know." She grimaced. "Life is so dull lately, isn't it? But anyway! I actually have to go out in a few minutes, but you can stay until then."

"Oh." Dammit, I never wanted to leave her. It was safer at least to be with her than anyone else. She was never going to hate me. she was never going to find out, so she'd never have the chance to hate me, and I could always be safe with her.

_I wish we always could've stayed those two little five year olds, full of stupid naïve innocence, like he used to be. Do you remember that, Saku? Before today, before yesterday, and before the day before yesterday… If I could go back to when times were simple and I knew how to understand them, I wouldn't want to leave again, Sakura…_

"I'm volunteering at the retirement home again today." She was saying. I wasn't paying much attention. "It looks good on college applications. Since I want to go in medicine, I figure I'll need all the nice looking stuff I can get…"

"That's good, I guess."

"Some of the old dudes are so creepy, though. They keep staring at my boobs…as if I have any to speak of. They're not as bad as Jiraiya-sensei though. Ugh, Literature is hell every day with him! I can't believe he hasn't been fired yet. Jesus Christ, that man is such a pervert." Sakura shivered at the thought of him. She was right, he was demented and always checking out people. Not even his fellow teachers were spared… "Aw, crap! I'm gonna be late!"

I glanced up. Sakura scrambled to get her coat on and snatch her purse. "See you, then." I got up and hugged her goodbye as we parted ways again.

"See you!"

Her car sped off, and I wished I'd studied harder for my own driver;s test. Yet another thing I'd earned failure in…

Ah, I was so stupid.

--

Going back home to face my mother honestly scared the shit out of me, but I knew I had to get it over with. "Mom?"

She was reclined in the living room, nursing a cup of steaming coffee. "Oh. Ino-chan…" Her voice sounded tired, but not hostile. Better than noting. "I didn't know if you were coming back…you seemed pretty worked up."

I swallowed. "That's because I was. That was the truth about me, mom. I really am…" I had trouble finishing, and I trailed off. "And there's nothing anybody can do about it. I'm…I'm sorry…"

"No, don't be sorry." She sighed, running her fingers down the cup, not looking at me. "If you really think you are, then…then I'll stop bothering you about all of that." She stopped. "Ino-chan, how long have you known?"

I bit my lip. "A long time."

"Oh, Ino." Her head shook limply. "I just wish you would have said something sooner, so I wouldn't be so…whatever I am right now. Shocked? Confused?"

"You aren't _mad, _are you?"

"Mad?"

"Because this is who I am."

"No, I'm not mad…I just don't know what to do, because my own daughter was too afraid to tell me thing. Does that make me a bad parent…?"  
"Of course not!" I split in, my fingernails digging into my palms as I clenched my hands into tense fists.

A little bit of a relieved smile twinkled to life. "Good…" she whispered. "That's what I was afraid of."

That whole incident went off a hell of a lot better than I'd drawn it would in my mind, but I was still riddled with pessimism and utterly beside myself with every fucked up emotion known to mankind. My chest was still twisted up and nervous. No amount of chocolate was going to sedate me. I couldn't breathe easily like I should have. Every breath was strained and longing for her.

Her.

I loved her so, so much.

I loved her. I wished so badly I didn't… I did anyway. Oh, I did. But there was no magical pill to numb the searing hot cattle prods in my heart. Nothing to make the swelling of my symptoms go down.

And so on, and so on.

Endlessly, until I could unlock one of the doors to the room I was trapped in.


	5. Assuming

**A/N: **Hey everyone. :3 My cat is sitting on me at the moment. XD She says hello. She's my princess… -grin- And she's purring...spoiled brat. X3 Awhh. Although she's going to be seriously pissed off at me soon because on Friday we're bringing home a new puppy from the pound, and she's going to have a fit. XD Spoiled, spoiled…! But she's my princess. –gives crown-

Enjoy the chapter!

~Disclaimer~

Raindrops, One by One

Chapter Five

I was willing to go out on a limb and try to feel more comfortable with the teensy little fact that I was gay and my mother had found out. Seeing as she hadn't kicked me out of the house yet or told dad (now _that _would probably result in me getting kicked out), I thought it might be safe to talk to her more. So, I started choosing little moments to open up a little. Not a lot, because I was still skitterish, but some. I even told her there was someone I liked. No names, but that there was someone.

Gradually I felt _sort of _better.

Unfortunately no matter how much I was able to get rid of a little weight, seeing Sakura every godforsaken day didn't help me get over her. I know we've been over that already, but damn! That girl was entirely blind, wasn't she? Every hint I dropped, each stolen glance…she saw none of them, my stupid beautiful darling.

All her clueless smile did was make me love her even more than I thought possible.

Anyway, I was surviving. Not as happily or as warmly in someone else's arms as I wished I was, but I was still surviving nonetheless. That counted for something, didn't it? I hadn't gone entirely crazy. That was the truth, wasn't it?

I was getting a little bit better. A little bit was more than no bit, which was where I'd been stuck at for what seemed like the longest fucking time. God, I was finally not so sad.

…And I call Sakura clueless. Ha. By then I should have been able to figure out that calm did not last very long. Life is not meant to be calm, otherwise you're dead.

And I wasn't dead.

--

Technically I was in my room studying, but in reality I was just sleeping. So what? It could be worse, trust me. When my phone rudely woke me up by spewing a Paramore ringtone, I pulled it over to me and flipped it open. Sakura had sent me a text. It said:

_Ino-pig! I'm coming over cuz I'm bored out of my mind right now. Kay? So see you in five minutes!_

"Ah, shit." I groaned, rolling out of bed grudgingly. Pulling on a random shirt over my cami, I grimaced. I looked like a total mess. Yeah, she'd seen me at worse, but not since I'd really realized how I felt about her. Now I'd started taking a few seconds more time to get ready than normal, just in case _she_ might be looking too, instead of only the usual horny boys looking for a sexy blonde to fuck.

I think I was setting myself up for failure by having too much hope.

After shoving a pile of used Kleenexes (Those are so not sexy. Snot does _not _have the same romantic quality to it that lingerie and chocolates do. Just…no.) under my bed, I scrambled downstairs so I could open the door for her when she arrived. "Mom, Sakura's coming!" I yelled, straightening some pillows on the couch. "There's plenty of potato chips, right? She's probably hungry…"

The neon pink head sliding out of the car that materialized in the driveway made me forget all about my mother and whether or not she'd gone shopping lately. All thoughts strayed onto how easily Sakura could have been a fucking movie star as she came up the sidewalk. She was so damn perfect, so graceful.

Well, never mind that graceful part… She glomped me hard the instant she came in the door.

But I promise, she was very graceful until then. No, really!

"Jesus!" I sputtered, nearly falling down. "Yes, yes, I'm happy to see you too! Down, girl! And no slobbering on the carpet, while you're at it. Good dog…"

She laughed, helping me get my balance back. "I'm not a _dog, _Ino-pig! I'm just hyper."

"No, is that so…?" I rolled my eyes sarcastically. "You know, I honestly couldn't tell. Hyper? You? No way."

"Yes wayyy."

"Has somebody been drinking coffee today…?"

"Haha! _Maybe. _But I'd never tell. It's a secret."

A secret. At least hers, playful or not, was a secret that wouldn't hurt her so much every time she took in another labored breath… Nevertheless, the irony nearly killed me. No kidding.

My mother emerged from the kitchen to toss us a bag of potato chips. "Hi Sakura. Nice to see you of course, but could you please not kill my daughter…?"

"Oh, you saw the epic tackle hug?" She grinned. "That was nothing. I'm pretty sure I've put her through worse." My friend took the chips and plopped down on the couch, totally defeating the purpose of me making the pillows all tidy. Oh well.

Mom blinked, digesting something that wasn't even there. I guess I shouldn't have sat down so safely far away from Sakura, because that probably only made it look more incriminating. "Hold on, you say you've put her through…worse? Worse than a hug or two…?"

I blinked now, afraid of what her flat tone meant. She was talking like she was mentally putting together puzzle pieces. "Mom, what are you getting at…?"

A tiny smile, sort of sad, took her face. "Ino, you know you don't have to sit so far away from her. I told you I'm fine with…who you are…and all… And that you don't want a boyfriend."

Sakura glanced at me quizzically, pausing mid-swallow. "Um. What's she talking about?"

Mom laughed, swatting the air, please, it's alright! Sit closer, it doesn't bother me, not…not really. I'm getting used to it more and more every day. Hasn't Ino told you that I know, Saku-chan? You don't have to hide it any more, Saku-chan!"

_Fuck. She thinks that we're together? _My heart damn near fucking stopped, and I opened my mouth, suddenly dry, about to beg her to shut up, but I couldn't make a sound in time.

For once my mother was on the right track about something, but she picked the wrong time to say it.

"Hide _what?" _Sakura was seriously confused, but all Mom took it for was an act of innocence to protect me.

"That you're her girlfriend, of course!" She sighed, exasperated. "Didn't she tell _you _she told me she was a lesbian? Oh, I really should have known you and her were seeing each other. I can't believe I didn't realize it was _you _she said she liked! Really, I am—"

"FUCK!" I cried, shooting up from my chair and sprinting like hell out the door. With every goddamn word Sakura's face melted into shock and something that looked all too much like panic. Her eyes, her beautiful eyes, they got so _wide…_

_She knows, she knows, she fucking _found out. _She fucking _knows _now!_

I kept running until eventually I heard another pair of feet running to catch up. "Ino! Ino! Wait a minute…!"

My lungs were burning, and I stumbled when I heard my name. Wheeling around like a magnet being pulled to its match, I saw Sakura calling, panting as she tried to keep up. "Shit…please don't…just don't say anything, okay…?" I whispered, overwhelmed. God, she wasn't supposed to hear about it that way. And that was _if _I was ever going to let her know I loved her, it wasn't going to be so brutally blunt. "Don't say anything, please…"

She did anyway, her eyes still wide and sort of scared. Her voice wavered some. "Is that true, Ino…? You're gay…?"

"Yeah. I am. And if you want to hate me for it…hell, I might even feel better if you did. It would make it so much _easier—"_

"I don't hate you for anything!" She sputtered, totally disgusted that I would so much as say that. "I could never hate you." She stopped and chewed her lip, looking down. "Um. But…is it true that you…you like me in…that way…?"

My eyes welled with tears that couldn't seem to just get it over with and fall. I nodded, coated with desperate _love. _"I am so sorry."

Sakura was quiet, settling after one single shiver that I'm not sure if it came from the cold air or what I told her. But, she didn't run away or hit me or burst into tears. All she did was look at me, look at me, the broken wind up doll that I was. "Ino?"

I look at her back. There was no way I couldn't answer her, because I was like_ her_ pet dog, always wanting to please her no matter what my own cost was for it. "Hm…"

"If you…if you want…you can take me somewhere, you know? Like…like a movie or something…? And call it…call it a date if you really wanted to…?"

So _fucking long _I had wanted to hear that come out of her mouth, only now that I did, I could tell it was nothing more than an attempt to make me happier.

She was my best friend after all. It was her job to keep me happy. She was so _sweet. _I didn't deserve her, especially then.

Still, I told her yes, because I still had some tiny hope that I could turn it around and make her my real girlfriend.

First date.

_Holy shit, she's going on a date with me._

Pity or not, a date was a date.

Happy and half-dead all at once; I was becoming the master at being a walking contradiction!


	6. Fairy Tales, But For Big Kids

**A/N: **-shot- I really did have plans to have this up about two months ago. D: But obviously that didn't work out so well… I like this chapter though, so I hope it makes up for it. XD'

Ah, I am so lazy. Although, while I was procrastinating, I did write and post a lemon for for the InoSaku pairing. So at least I was working on _something_ related to them. X3'

Anyway, the next chapter is the last chapter, and this one has a very lovely cliffhanger type thing. 8D Mahaha. You know I love you all, right? -sweatdrop- I intend to write part seven pretty quickly… (We'll see how that goes. XD)

Enjoy!

-I don't own Naruto. And I don't want to, because unfortunately it has really sucked lately…rawr.-

--

Raindrops, One By One

.Chapter Six.

I'm not sure exactly how to describe it. Maybe you could say it was sort of like Christmas Eve, breathlessly clutching your blankets in your bed as you impatiently watch the clock tick up to morning. That feeling is probably the closest thing to what I was experiencing that day. Like Christmas morning, being so hyper and excited, and tearing through all of those wonderful presents Santa brought, and then…

Nothing.

It was all over in a matter of moments.

After all of that painful waiting, it was _over._

…Yeah.

You know, how I was feeling was almost _just like that._

If you get my drift.

--

My alarm clock had it coming, if you ask me. Where the hell did it get off constantly screaming at me in the morning, especially after I had insomnia bad for hours? (totally disregard that I was the one who set it to ring, if you please.)

So, I finally decided to kill it.

Basically that means I pounded it into bloody oblivion with my fist. (Which kind of hurt my fist in the process, but it was worth it.) All right, maybe not so much bloody, nut there was definitely a satisfying amount of carnage. Of course, that was before my grogginess wore off and I realized that it was the one day when I _wanted _to wake up early on a Saturday.

It was Sakura Day. (Yeah, I went so far as to give it a name. And a hideously corny name at that. But don't judge me, I was too busy hyperventilating at the time to be creative.)

It was Sakura Day, and by the time I realized it, I had slept for another hour, and was seriously running out of time to get all drop-dead-gorgeous-she-is-gonna-get-turned-on-whether-she-is-gay-straight-bi-or-an-alien-from-outer-space before Sakura, our beloved day's namesake, was supposed to have me come knocking on her door so we could start our epic first date.

Go figure I'd mess up from the start.

God, whoever writes the script to my life must be one sadistic bitch. Jesus…

It was like even after it was dead that goddamned alarm clock was still mocking me. so after I tried my best to get all drop-dead-gorgeous-etc-etc, I made sure to give the mangled corpse a good extra kick before departing to find my princess.

Princess.

Princess, princess…

Sakura Day was raging in full swing.

--

It was sort of weird being the one getting driven around, seeing as I was the person who had set up the date. (I have an excuse though, I really do. My driver's-ed teacher fucking hated my guts. It's like she was jealous I was prettier than her or something…not to be conceited or anything, of course. It's just _true.) _Our first stop was McDonald's. Admittedly not the most romantic spot in the world, but I'd been depending on my drop-dead-gorgeous-ness to make it seem that way. What I hadn't been depending on was my damn alarm clock fiasco, and that plan had gotten a little abridged, because I knew I wasn't looking as good as I could have.

_Maybe I'm trying too hard. _I remember that thought wearily crossing my mind as we slid together into a booth in the corner. _Hell, she knows you. She wouldn't care what you looked like any other day, so why would she care now if she's here because she likes you as a person? Right? Sakura loves me because I'm Ino, that lovable loud mouthed bitch._

_…if she even loves you that way._

A piece of advice: If you ever want to get discouraged down to the core, just behave like me. it's a surefire way to work quite nicely, let me tell you, dear. Quite fucking nicely. Guaranteed or your money back.

"Ah, I'm an idiot." I muttered under my breath, clenching a napkin angrily in my fist. "Idiot, idiot, idio—"

"Um, what are you saying…?" Sakura interrupted, waving a ketchup soaked French fry in my face. "I can't understand you when you're mumbling. How many times do I have to tell you that?" She scolded, shoving the fry in my mouth. "Eat. Because knowing you, you probably forgot to eat breakfast and/or are on another of your stupid dieting sprees…"

"Correct," I mused, swallowing. "On both accounts. So sue me, darling."

"You know what? I might."

"Bring it on, biyotch." I snickered, and at that point I was starting to ease up on my worrying a little bit. It felt like a regular day. Us fake-arguing over stupid little things, and getting ketchup all over ourselves. Best friend types of things…. At least it was comfortable, I tried to convince myself. At least it wasn't making us all awkward and whatnot yet, secretly checking the time on our cell phones every other moment because we just wanted to go the hell home and take a long shower and promise ourselves never to go out with that person again.

_But you know, this isn't _all _that you want, is it?_

We smiled and we laughed.

_She's so damn pretty, don't you think so?_

Smile, laugh. Like always.

_You're such a damn coward. Go ahead and pretend like you aren't; pretend away. Obviously you've got everybody fooled. Almost even yourself, really. But not quite. Because if you weren't you'd grab her _now _and kiss her like there was no tomorrow. Ah, but do you kiss her? _No. _No, you don't. because you are a _coward, _Ino Yamanaka._

While those voices pummeled away in the back of my head like a UFC champion, I chewed voraciously on fries and kept on laughing. Maybe if I kept laughing louder and louder and louder, I could lose all of my hearing and my head would shut up.

Therein lay the problem though, because the voices _inside _your head always make sure you can hear them. God, a person could go mad from being trapped with them all day, all night, and all the next monotonous days and nights following.

…Truthfully, I wouldn't be so surprised at all to be told that I already had gone mad from them. Is that bad? Is that sad? Or is it nothing more than pathetic…? Please, tell me dear. I would _love _to know.

--

Somebody informed me once that the worst place to go on a date to is to a movie theatre. I don't remember quite where I heard it, but I do remember why they said so.

Apparently, all you will be doing is watching the movie, falling asleep, or making out; none of which are really the best way to get to know someone. True, valid statements.

So.

Why did I decide to take Sakura to a movie anyway? Not the slightest idea. (More proof that copying me is a wonderful way to ruin your life, only $19.95 plus shipping and handling.)

Other than my head seriously giving me a goddamn migraine headache, things were still doing all right until then. It did feel regular to us and I'm sure it _looked _regular to anybody who was looking our way. No one could possibly be able to tell that this was two lesbians on a date. (Lesbians? Two? How could I be so sure that there were _two?) _All we were to them were two teenage girls. Off together killing time on a lazy Saturday afternoon…

I did feel incredibly stupid, you know. The whole time the movie played, I sat fidgeting, my sweaty hands balled up in anxious fists on my knees, desperately trying to ignore the various couples in the theatre who _were_ kissing feverently.

Could I even call Sakura and myself a couple if we only appeared as average teenage girls? Was that allowed? Was that me letting wistful thinking melt all over me and trap me?

Hold on.

I take back what I said about copying me in order to ruin your life.

Don't do that, alright? The offer no longer stands. Please, just don't be like me. Nobody should have to go through that mental torture. No one, not even someone that I hate… It's just not _fair _to feel that way and to be so blocked from it. Then, I suppose, it's also not fair to have to listen to me sometimes when I go off on some long, incoherent rant or another, like this one.

_God, save me. God, if you exist…just _save me _from myself, already._

Life's not fair, they say.

I'd very much like to strangle whoever was the first person to say that, if only because they were so fucking right about it.

I knew Sakura must have noticed that I was feeling sort of nervous. Hell, it's a best friend's _job _to notice those kinds of things. Their job to try to fix those sorts of things.

But, I think that also she must have been more in tune to the couples kissing all around us, too. And I think that because of that, she kept her mouth firmly shut.

I was glad, in a strange way. Glad and also devastated beyond belief. Falling in love with your best friend is entirely too hard… Which one did I want her to be _more? _My lover or my friend? At risk of_ losing_ our friendship if I chose lover…

I just couldn't fucking decide yet… I didn't know if I was allowed to decide.

The movie ended happily.

I was very surprised about that.

We drove home.

--

Sunday, I went to her house and dragged her outside to go for a walk together. Really, I felt myself becoming increasingly stressed and desperate, but I didn't know what the hell to do about it. It made me want to ruin everything only to make it go away.

"Yesterday." I started, letting my hair fall over one eye. "Yesterday was fun, don't you think, Saku?"

She looked up from watching our feet move together on the sidewalk. "Fun. Of course it was, what else could it be? French fry wars and everything!" She tried to force out a laugh.

I was hardly convinced that her delicate chuckle was real, but I hid my doubt. At least she was willing to talk about it…maybe I hadn't totally failed yet. "Yeah, and I kicked your ass!"

"Pshh, I beg to differ, Ino-pig."

"Not true, forehead. And you know it."

"Damn it, my forehead is not that big! You know I'm sensitive about it…"

Trying to smile, I raised my head to look at her. "Sorry, Saku-chan. You know I think you're beautiful, right?"

Her green eyes shimmered gently with a tinge of nervousness and blinked as she swallowed, obviously not sure of what to say in return. Then, the sky saved her and began to let down an easy, steady rain shower.

_Raindrops…_

A giggle sprang out of me all on its own, suddenly overly hopeful. I grabbed her hand and we sprung into a run, foolishly trying to outrun the drops above us. Somewhere along the line, she started to giggle a bit too, and I was feeling bolder that earlier. Misplaced boldness is not a good idea.

I took her other hand and began to dance with her, just how I had always imagined us doing. Dancing, with the only soundtrack the soothing, encouraging patter of rain falling.

It was so surreal for me. So perfect and so brutally painful to think that I wasn't taking _any _chances.

_Oh, just do it._

Could I?

_You know you'll hate yourself either way, but maybe for goddamn _ever _if you don't._

But _could _I?

_At least you would know. And maybe then you could finally feel peaceful._

Fine.

_I'll do it._

"Saku?"

Unsure eyes stared up at me. "Hm?"

And even though I _knew _I was moving too fast for her, they slipped out of me before I could do anything about it. "Can I kiss you?"

--


	7. Finale, Finally, For You

**A/N: **Despite my shitty update schedule, we've stuck it out the whole way! XD But can I mention that my readers kick ass? Seriously. Simply for putting up with my supreme laziness and writer's block you kick ass. -sweatdrop- Good god…

This is the last chapter of Raindrops. After a while I definitely plan to write more InoSaku, because, you know, it's kind of awesome to finally find a great lesbian pairing that has an equally great fanbase… X3 So, I'll be back with oneshots and probably some more long ones after this! Don't worry about me totally dropping off the face of the fandom.

For now, enjoy the finale. :3

I do not own Naruto.

--

--

Raindrops, One by One

07

--

Saying that I had overstepped was a vast understatement. How could I even think of saying all that I had done was _overstepped _a tiny bit…?! No, that was far fucking worse than simply overstepping.

I shattered her.

If she was the window pane, and I was the rogue baseball, she was absolutely done for. And so was I, because I was undoubtedly going to be picking shards of glass out of my skin for weeks afterward.

I know I ought to be proud that I was trying to be brave and finally trying to make _myself _happier, but…

Have you ever seen someone's smile crumble away so quickly that you too become confused, mistakenly thinking that there may have been a frame missing in the middle of the film? Oh, but if anybody did anything to the film, it was me. I added a part that wasn't supposed to be there, and I ruined the happy ending.

Didn't I?

Didn't I?

And at that moment, that was what I had done a fair job at convincing myself of.

Sakura was a stiff, easily breakable board enough already, but now it seemed like she'd gotten even stiffer by those four words. _Can I kiss you? _Really, where did I get off thinking that I could so much as _consider _saying that to her? "Um…Ino, I…" She stuttered, pale pallor overtaking her skin. "Ino, I…"

"N-never mind!" I choked, heart quivering. Good news, at least I wasn't trying to fix it instead of continuing to insist that I ruin our friendship too. "Just never mind…"

About then I began to notice which of the things I was attached to that was more valuable to me.

Attempting to hide that she was shaking a little, Sakura swallowed and tugged nervously on the ends of her hair. "I… I think I need to go home now, okay?"

"It's fine, I understand…"

"No, it—it's not _you!" _she covered, still making too much of an effort to keep me happy. "I, uh…I have a test in history soon, so…you know, studying calls…! So many dates to remember, so little—" She shrank back again when she said 'date'. "…Time."

Fuck, had I messed her up that bad by moving too fast with my selfishness? "Oh. Right. That test in history. Maybe I ought to go study for it too." My own voice had lost its life as well. A boring, sad monotone was leaking out, devoid of will or energy. Without a spirited goodbye, I trudged off, a fast little shuffle despite the heaviness my body currently held.

_Get the hell away from her and figure things out before you even think about going to see her again. You got that, Ino Yamanaka? Figure your own heart out before you go after hers._

I didn't turn around once to look back at her, because I knew what I would see. My best fucking friend in the world, conflicted and tender and _alone._

Alone merely because I had left her that way.

What sort of friend would do that if they really loved her?

Obviously, whoever I had convinced myself into becoming would. Look, there she was, leading me away from the only girl who ever put up with all my shit.

Sakura deserved so much better than her best friend disappearing.

Lord, what _was _all of this mess?

In order to put something back together again, you generally have to have some glue. I was the glue in this case, but now I needed to decide how I was going to put her back together again. Also, there was another pressing matter…how to put _myself _back together again in a way that she wanted me.

Yes,I did love Sakura. I loved her very much. I loved her enough to know that deep inside of me it would probably never work out with me as the prince and her as the princess. She was my princess, but all I was was her lady in waiting.

But I was okay with that if I had to be.

Looking back, I had known I was okay with that, because I'd really been happier before I'd let this infatuation get out of hand. I guess I had needed to justify something to myself; that I was _sure _I was a lesbian.

Oh, Sakura was gorgeous, don't get me wrong. No, no, no. She is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen, but I had only mistakenly reached for her, seeing as she was the closest thing available.

Still I would adore to be her lover too, but the whole thing seemed likely futile and I was aware of it. Aware of it since the start, which was why her finding out scared me at first so much. If she knew, that would open the door to get me too eager. It did, and so did I, and eventually it had proved that first and foremost I needed to be her best friend.

In order to survive in this painful, tricky world, everyone needs a best friend to cry with and play match maker for you, not necessarily to _be _your match all of the time.

I got my dance with her; I did. No one could ever take that away from me now.

Sometimes one single memory can be better than a whole gallery. With only one being there, it is only made all that much more special and pretty.

Not to say that there _couldn't _be more.

There could.

I still hoped that there could. And I was still going to try to make more with her.

_Calm down. Calm down and just make sure that it's _her _choice, and not mine, whether we keep going like this. Because _she _is the one who it is up to; I'm just the one who's praying she doesn't hate me for it._

I stopped running away, shoulders heaving as I panted from physical and mental exertion, I stood rooted to the pavement and gathered myself. Eyes hammered shut; I turned on my heel and began walking back towards her. Though she had said she had to leave to go study, she hadn't moved. Instead, all she'd done was sit limply on the sidewalk, hugging her knees to her chest. She had obviously been thinking about all of this just as hard as I had. Staring down at the ground, she was sad.

Sad.

I could tell.

"S—Saku-chan?" It was like I hadn't spoken in weeks, how cracked the sound was.

The only response she gave me was to draw herself further hidden behind her legs, but after a moment's continued wrenching silence; I saw her expressive eyes peering out. They were trained on me. no tears hovered behind those glass orbs, and not only did it surprise me, but it embedded a slight new hope into my core. Sakura always couldn't help but cry when she was angry at someone, so at least she didn't hate me.

I swallowed. "Okay…so you don't have to talk to me, I guess. but could you at least nod or something so I know you're listening?"

Her head might have moved, I'm not positive, but I'd like to think she did. "Anyway, I just need to say a few things. And that probably means I'm going to babble and make no sense about it. Which I'm sure you isn't a surprise for you of all people…you know I never shut up and sometimes don't even stop to take a breath and everything I say is a gigantic run on sentence and—"

Passing out from lack of air had an appeal to it then. Were I to pass out and skip the waking up part, it would all be wonderful. That way I could go ahead and be dead, and be left with no need to worry about how to wrap this all up in gauze and heal it.

Apparently, Sakura had already come up with a healing plan on her own. Leave it to the one studying to be a doctor… "Piggy, stop it."

"What?"

"Just stop it, Piggy."

"Um…stop what, exactly?"

She sighed, coming out of her hiding crouch. Her lips were flat and serious, but still not angry. "Groveling. You always made fun of me for groveling. Quit being such a hypocrite and be a bad ass. Because you're much better at that, and bad asses are way sexier. In my opinion anyway. And that is the opinion of someone who's, ah…sort of regretting not being more open to this whole...um…" She hesitated, stumbling over her thoughts.

I blinked, startled to hear her using the word sexy directed toward myself. "Oh. Alright."

"…Good. Because it's annoying…" She paused and bit her lip before braving a look up at my face. "Just for the record, what I was trying to say was…I… I wanna say that I don't necessarily want to give up trying. The whole girlfriend thing, I mean."

Meeting her bright gaze, I was both pleased and taken somewhat off guard. "Hm? Really?"

"Yeah…not fast, but… I really do want to give it an honest try. In case I would ever regret not trying." Playing with her fingers, she went of sheepishly, "Because something sort of tells me that someday I might be regretting that."

Those were the sweetest tiny words ever to grace my ears at the point.

But still.

I had to safeguard the part that was _truly _the most important to me.

Through my vivid smile, I attempted to sound a bit stern. "I can definitely work with that, Madame. However, one more thing. Say that you promise to be my best friend."

I didn't even begin to know the greatest tiny words in the world until she came up to me, stuck her hand in mine, and whispered gently in my ear, "I do."

We were open ended and _safe _to be so.

Because we were best friends, and we knew that we could deal with whatever came our way, some lopsided way or another.

And maybe kick its ass while holding hands and the same time.

Fancy that.

--

--

--

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End file.
